Defining Pet Features and Essentials

[Trevor DeVore]

Hi Ender,

Thanks for bringing up this discussion. Clearly you want the best for
LiveCode and that is good. Having discussions on what is "most important"
can often be frustrating as everyone has different experiences and
opinions. Just a couple of things I would like to mention after having read
through your messages. I'm trying to speak directly to your original point
about "pet" vs. "essential" features and helping RunRev decide what to
focus on.

My understanding is that you don't want the details of what can or can't be
done to water down your main point. Hence the frustration when people
mention workarounds or suggest you are doing something incorrectly. While
understandable, when you use specific examples to buttress your argument
then I think it is fair that people question you if they have had a
different experience.

In addition, the discussion is about deciding which features RunRev should
be working on and which they shouldn't. When an argument is being made that
a tool absolutely needs a feature because it can't do X or Y then I don't
think it is unreasonable for people to question whether or not X or Y
really can or can't be done.

For example, you mention that resolution independence can be addressed by
the developer and that the 32,000 pixel limit is keeping you from getting
projects. My experience is the exact opposite. There is no way for me to
work around all of the resolution independence issues in LiveCode (Mac and
Windows) but I've been working around the 32,000 pixel limit for years.
Originally I used the data grid. Now I have a newer control that is more
flexible and has been optimized. I can gradually load in records from the
web without having to resort to pagination. (One tangent we could go down
here is how hard it is to share and maintain custom controls with the
community in LiveCode.)

In recent memory, I've only had one 32,000 pixel issue that I couldn't work
around. The other day a customer sent in an error report because my app
choked on an image that was 41,584 pixels high. It was a large web page he
had taken a screen capture of. He wasn't surprised it didn't work and when
I went to create an image in Photoshop to test with Photoshop warned me the
image might not work in other apps.

Do I want the 32,000 limit removed? Of course I do. But it isn't a
show-stopper for me. Resolution independence on the other hand is a big
deal (to me). We are different developers with different (immediate) needs.
Your pet need may be my essential and vice-versa.

One other issue you brought up was the URL library. If I read correctly,
you are saying that an updated URL library isn't on RunRev's radar. But a
reworked URL and socket library is part of the roadmap. It is currently
listed under the queue at http://livecode.com/community/roadmap/. I'm
looking forward to this as much as anyone. I've spent more time then I
would have liked working on, and around the URL functionality in LiveCode
for over 10 years now.

So what is my point? I think the purpose of your post is a great one (how
the community can help RunRev focus on what is most important). But perhaps
taking a hard line on specific features should be done outside of the
primary discussion so that people don't get lost in the specifics while a
framework for thinking about the problem is still being worked on. My
impression is that it just dilutes the message.

If you think you can help RunRev better focus their resources, my
suggestion would be to come up with a system for collecting, categorizing,
and managing these features first. Then you can start trying to determine
what should be considered pet vs. essential.

-- 
Trevor DeVore
Blue Mango Learning Systems
www.screensteps.com    -    www.clarify-it.com